The document discusses how to create an authoring infrastructure that supports 24/7 global content development through virtualization and desktop publishing tools in a virtual desktop infrastructure. It explains the benefits of virtualization for technical communication professionals working globally, including increased cost effectiveness, speed, security, and reduced complexity. The presentation provides an example use case of setting up a virtualized desktop publishing environment for global authoring teams.

1. How to Create an
Authoring Infrastructure
that Supports 24/7 Global Content Development
Emmelyn Wang (王兆馨)
Technical Communication Specialist
Virtual Bridges
Vi t l B id

2. Audience
This presentation is for anyone who is interested in creating a more efficient
authoring infrastructure. Managing an efficient infrastructure means scalable
and responsive practices for creating content on a global level.
This presentation explains why virtualization (specifically for desktops) is so
pertinent to Technical Communications professionals who want to take
advantage of cloud authoring and setting it up within their organization.
This presentation is for anyone who wants to understand why managing a team
of TC professionals and even social media users authoring content in a virtualized
environment is:
More cost-effective
Faster
More secure
Less complex

3. Goals
 Establish the urgency and need for high
quality digital content specifically for
growing needs projected in AP
 Characteristics of a successful 24/7 Global
Content Development Authoring Structure
 Explain the advantages of
Virtualization Desktop Infrastructure
(VDI) Gen2 over Gen1 (History and
Barriers)
 Highlight one use case of setting up
and deploying a desktop publishing
environment for a global doc team
 The overall solution is to integrate project
management skills/tools with the best
type of infrastructure (working closely
with IT) for global content development
 Streamline the verification/validation,
authoring, editing, and publishing process
while preparing it for translation

4. Support 24/7 Global Content Development?
Collaboration and Authoring Across
 Geographically
Dispersed Teams
 Platforms
 Devices
 Languages
 Locales
 Cultures
 Connectivity
 Time Zones
 Technologies
 Producing more with less...
Companies are looking for project
management and IT skills in how
we set up and deliver Tech Comm.

5. Consider the Market
 McKinsey has published several articles following the need for digital
content in Asia.
Internet usage is poised for explosive growth across Asia, driving
massive consumer demand for digital content and services. The
biggest challenge for businesses hoping to meet this demand is
how to make money will while creating low-cost content.
 Let’s consider how technical communication professionals on this side of the world can
contribute to this growing need.
 How do we fit in the picture and take part in this conversation?
 What value is gained and what lessons can we learn from the high volume of interactivity?
 How do we apply TC principles to technologies and organizations poised for growth in
developing countries?
 How do you create an authoring infrastructure that supports 24/7 content development?

6. Phenomenally Projected Growth
• Internet Usage
• Social Media Usage
• Content for support
and conversion
Source: https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Marketing/Digital_Marketing/Riding_Asias_digital_tiger_2667?gp=1

7. What Will Limit the Growth?
 High hardware costs
 Inconsistent network quality
 Limited access
…could check these optimistic
growth prospects.
–McKinsey & Co.

8. What Will Limit the Growth?
 Security concerns
 Incompatibility of devices, operating
systems, and applications
 Failing to meet the transient nature of
workers needing mobility across various
locations across multiple devices. They
expect their desktops, applications, and
data to be available to them wherever
they go.
 Focusing only on physical endpoint
management
 Not utilizing centralized virtual desktop
infrastructures for content development
[allowing for scaled-down workstations
running minimal hardware configurations
and mobility]

9. What Will Limit the Growth?
• Lack of talent to harness the work and lack of management
needed to oversee digital content projects
• Organizations around the world, especially developing
countries, are still trying to understand the value of TC
Professionals as evidenced by limited and limiting job postings

10. What is Virtualization?
According to the Red Hat Linux Enterprise…
Virtualization is a broad computing term for running software, usually
operating systems, concurrently and isolated from other programs on one
system. Most existing implementations of virtualization use a hypervisor, a
software layer that controls hardware and provides guest operating
systems with access to underlying hardware devices. The hypervisor allows
multiple operating systems to run on the same physical system by offering
virtualized hardware to the guest operating system.
Source: http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5/pdf/Virtualization/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux-5-Virtualization-en-US.pdf

11. Why Author in a Virtualized Environment?
 Organizations are learning how to do much more with far less.
 Technical Communications Professionals such as Content Strategists, Information
Architects, and others are also learning how to tackle high demands with far less
resources.
 Tech Comm Managers can combine TC skills, project management skills, and work
closely with IT to create effective virtualized ecosystems that bring down costs while
leverating content creation tools globally
 Why not? Disaster recovery, compliance measures, and managing global outsourcing
 So, it’s not just about using smarter tools, it’s about changing the way you use them.
The TV and digital media production industry did just that and realized valuable results.
Source: http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/bto/pointofview/pdf/DigitalMediaproduction_fall2003.pdf

12. Why Author in a Virtualized Environment?
Virtualization essentially turns hardware needs into software needs by
consolidating resources to reduce costs and provide a rich user
experience. Generally hardware is harder to upgrade, more expensive
(especially certain types of storage), and has greater limitations.
However, centralized virtual desktops can help save
– Money
– Energy/Power
– Materials
– Staff
– Time
Graphic Source: http://cioes.org/tag/vdi/

13. Why Author in a Virtualized Environment?
– Transparency
– Dynamically served desktops
– Seamlessly update and deploy tools for content creation
– Virtualized environments are excellent for staging test scenarios
– Removal of traditional barriers
– Track session usage
– Lowering risks
– Accessible

14. Untapped Markets
Following the McKinsey Quarterly Profile of China, India, and
Malaysia is this comment:
…the authors should have also profiled Indonesia, another
large Asian country with untapped potential for advertisers
online.
Al Cadena |Senior Director, Social Media Strategy
Beeby Clark Meyler
New York, NY USA
I agree with Al’s comment based on the following research about Social Media
usage in 2011.

15. High Level of Interactivity
In the article entitled “Tweetonomic v Appanomic” from the
Salingsilang engine in an Acer Indonesia publication, we note
the following:
Indonesia only started paying attention to Twitter in 2010 which
is only four years after it started.
– Yet, Indonesia produces approximately 15% of all global tweets.
– Indonesia is the second largest group of Facebook users.
– Indonesia is the third largest and most active group of Twitter users
(with the U.S. and Brazil leading the top spots).

16.  Balancing low cost content with high quality delivered
through the right channels at the right time.
 Low cost, but still a high quality experience/usability.
What does “low cost  Why? Our AP counterparts now have more money to
content” really mean? spend so they are making smarter shopping decisions.
Research and and word-of-mouth make TC materials very
important in the world of digital and traditional marketing.
Customers will look for accurate information that reflects
the sophistication and pragmatic qualities of a
product/service.
 Collectivistic cultures are driven by group values:
Chinese consumers do much more research before
purchasing a product than average consumers in the
developed world do, so middle-class consumers often take
a long time to make decisions, if only because some things
can cost more than their monthly income. In a survey on
PC purchases, for example, Chinese consumers said they
might take three to six months to buy a computer and visit
a store three to five times. Decision making is especially
protracted for big-ticket items but can take quite a while
for foods, beverages, and personal-care offerings, as well,
given the increasing number of brands and new products
available.
Source:
https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Marketing/Chinas_new_pragmatic_cons
umers_2683
http://www.mckinsey.com/en/Client_Service/Marketing_and_sales/Latest_thi
nking/Finding_growth_in_Asias_digital_revolution.aspx
Graphic Source:
http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/digital-
marketing/content-is-not-created-equal/

17. Characteristics of a Successful 24/7 Global
Content Development Authoring Structure
 Highly Collaborative
 Efficient
 Resources | Users, Hardware, software, deployment modes,
 Up and Running / Less to no down time
 Organizational synchronization of process and tools for doc teams
working with various departments
 Agile/Flexible
 Secure
 Monitored
 Accountability
 Metrics
 Real-time Reports
 Visibility

18. Why Desktop Publishing and VDI Makes Sense
The power and functionality of specialized desktop publishing tools
paired with the accessibility of almost any client device including
mobile apps and a centralized image management dashboard
allows you to serve up desktops as a cloud service (either public or
private).
 Scalable
 Security – role/task-based provisioning, user/group policies,
encrypted offline use. Organizations who require additional security
can set up isolated gateways as well.
 Agility/Efficiency Authoring and Collaborating in the Cloud
 Consistent Authoring Experience with LAN-like performance
o Personalized Desktop with Persistent User Data
o Collaboration Despite Device Type, Connectivity, Location
o TC Managers give input to the types of tools their teams use – versioning
stays the same. Tool upgrades happen just once in the Gold Image.

19. Sample Case Resource Requirements
At the very least
– A laptop or desktop can serve up
hundreds of desktop sessions as a host
server:
• Hardware
– X86_64 bit virtualization (VT) enabled
– 12 GB RAM
• Software
– VERDE + VERDEOS / Linux OS + Image
OS iso’s
– Internet browser
In an enterprise environment, a
cluster of servers with a
designated cluster master with
failover capability
– Users can access a desktop session
(guest image / VDI – 20%) from a
browser by logging into a secure
dashboard on a client workstation
– Financially: Pay only for usage/per
desktop
– Linux administration knowledge

20. Creating an Authoring Environment
• What is VERDE? Virtual Enterprise Remote Desktop Environment
• What is VDI? Virtual Desktop Infrastructure – The mechanism of serving desktop
sessions to remote users from servers as discrete environments

21. What is VDI Gen1?
VDI Gen1 VDI Gen2
• Server-based instead of • Built for desktop virtualization
being purpose-built • Cost – Much Lower
• Cost – Much Higher • Complexity – Greatly Reduced
• Complexity – Much Higher with separate GUI’s for
• Coverage – Limited administrators and users
• Coverage – Expanded to offline,
branch, WIN + Linux + Mobile

22. What is VDI Gen2?

23. What is VDI Gen2?

24. What is VDI Gen2?

25. Use Case
In the VERDE environment, this is how you can administer open
source versioning software and desktop publishing software
to multiple users in a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI
Gen2).

26. Preparing the Desktop Session for How the Gold
Image can be Accessed
The normal setting
is important since
session users will
always get the
latest updates while
the user’s data in
the session remains
persistent.

27. Preparing Applications
 Decide where you want to download your package creation tool. You can
generally download it to a client workstation, dedicated IT server, or other
non host server device. These are desktop and end-user computing tools
that package applications for use on servers and cluster servers.
– Examples of package creation tools include
 ThinApp
 SPOON
 ZENworks
 Cameyo
 InstallFree
 ThinApp and InstallFree cannot be installed on the host server for the
following reasons:
 If the host server OS is Linux-based (because they are dependent on Windows
environments)
 Host servers must receive applications in package format to install correctly

28.  Download the following tools to a client
workstation, dedicated IT server, or
Delivering Authoring Tools other non host server device.
 Source control software such as Tortoise
SVN (http://tortoisesvn.net).
 Desktop publishing tool that allows
simultaneous and multi-authoring for
code resolution (not binary) such as
MadCap Flare.
 Put the applications in appropriate
packages (.exe or .msi, for example). You
may also need to have .zip package
installers on each host server to handle
imported virtual applications. Use your
packaging tool to upload the
applications from the VERDE Console
(management dashboard) to the VERDE
Server.
Graphic Source: http://mashstream.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Single_source_authoring.jpg

29. Preparing the Application Layer
• Next, from an Internet
browser, access the
VERDE Management
Console (VERDE Console)
and create a new
Application Layer.
• Import/upload the
application package files
from the VERDE Console
to the VERDE Server.

30. Preparing Each End User’s Authoring Session
1. Assign your application layers to
the corresponding Gold Image
that you want your end user to
work from (Windows or Linux).
2. Make sure you have proper
licensing of all types of
software. Find out if it is per
server or per user and apply
licenses accordingly.
3. Set up local directories for each
end user’s session. These
directories will keep persistent
user data and the Tortoise SVN
client will recognize check-
in/check-outs.

31. Run End User Tools from Sessions
Internet-Based Application Layering
• Ticketing systems • Skype
– Assembla • Evernote
– GitHub
• Adobe CS5
• Google Apps • Many more!
• 37-Signal Apps

32. Security

33. Security Changj,
Thank you for your question. Data at rest
security is implemented across the board.
Since important data is stored on the servers
and not on the clients, files are not stored or
transmitted unless policy permits it to a
device. If a device is lost, destroyed, or
stolen, the data sits on the server and is not
affected. We implement policy-based access
control regarding printing, usage, and device
access. Additional policies can also be used
to restrict sharing, printing, clipboard
sharing, and even local USB device access.
VERDE follows Authentication,
Authorization, and Auditing
security protocols.
In addition, VERDE has protocol encryption
(SSL) to make sure that granular items such
as keystrokes and pixels are secured. This
means that even the bits and pieces that
hackers could use to put together data are
safely encrypted.
-Leo Reiter,
CTO of Virtual Bridges

34. Security
Isolated Gateway Configuration

35. Project Management for 24/7 Authoring
Making sure users always have access
to their desktops, applications, and
data help keep up the productivity
Source: Joomla! Development Cycle
Documentation featuring the Montano Wheel
http://docs.joomla.org/Development_Cycle

36. The infrastructure shouldn’t
Project Management for ever replace face-to-face or
24/7 Authoring
real-time interaction, but the
Make sure your team has tools that
are: primary goal is to generate
 Accessible
discussion between
 Secure development and doc teams
 Accountable
 Trackable using methods such as
 Fosters communication/collaboration
internal crowdsourcing.
Focus on the audience/the true
end-users and work closely
with testers to avoid
groupthink

37. Mike Markel’s advice about collaboration:
Project Management for
24/7 Authoring
Distribute and act on information
quickly...Acting fast to get collaborators
Integrate project management
skills/tools with the best type of
the information they need will help
infrastructure for global content ensure that the group makes effective
development: decisions and makes steady progress
 Needs analyses toward completing the project.
 Information plans
 Specifications
 Project plans
Be flexible regarding schedule and
responsibilities. Adjust your plan and
Put decisions in writing... methods...Move forward by listening…
Aggregate conversations...
Use Groupware: Combine
technologies to achieve effective
digital collaboration methods. Keep it
simple.

38. Project Management for
24/7 Authoring
Collaboration types should be
Well-defined projects and cycles considered:
Keep an internally global calendar
Mesh and manage based on
that tracks all holidays and nuances of
cultures working together
job specialty, stages of the
Daylight Savings Time writing process, and the
Religious/Government/National
Holidays section of the document.
 What do you do when it is all
written in English, but it is not clear?
But, it is important to have a
oPlan effective overlaps using time
and date tools.
review of all aspects within
o Plan in time cushions to resolve
issues.
the entire context to make
sure the content strategy is
sound. Plan and edit to avoid
disjointed content.

39. Enable your content
Project Management for
24/7 Authuring
development ecosystem to
Build intracorporate social
networking where the web of
hand all kinds of
interaction is tight and communication
aggregated.
interactions and
Platform, environment, interaction |
connectivity
Cloud services, data portability,
stickiness Work with countries where
Empower authors to collaborate and
create content with powerful desktop technology could be
publishing software, applications, and
other tools using thin clients, tablets,
mobile devices, bare minimum so that  Disconnected
the most up to date information can
be captured and easily tested
How do you deal with multi-media
 Offline
that may require higher, faster
bandwidth? Allow moderation,  Compromised bandwidth
metrics, secure interactions